I broke my cake!

Dear Kristin,

Shoulda, woulda, coulda taken a picture of this cake before I played Godzilla and smashed the top!

I wanted to make a light and airy yet flavor-filled cake today. I was inspired by Giada DeLaurentiis's Lemon-Mint Cake with Lemon Syrup. Since I'm not really a fan of mint in desserts, I wanted to omit the mint and use another fruit. My original thought was peach, since they are in season right now. I thought I could infuse the batter with peach flavor with some cut up peaches. Since they are so delicate, though, I thought that I would need some kind of peachy infusion to really bring out a peach flavor. A trip to the grocery store yielded no peach extract or peach nectar, though, so I had to come up with Plan B - pineapple.

Basically, I just used Giada's cake batter recipe, substituting 2 Tbsp. pineapple juice for the lemon juice, and making a pineapple studded simple syrup instead of a lemon one.
The cake came out nice and light, with a crispy almost meringue-like top. It is quite sweet, so adding some tart berries as a garnish really enhances the depth of this dessert. Don't be skimpy when spooning the sauce on the cake - it absorbs a lot, and the sauce adds a needed touch of moisture.

Since the top of the cake is delicate and crispy, be careful when transferring the cake to your serving plate. I was in a hurry to consume this masterpiece and crushed said crispy top when I tried to move it from pan to plate. As you can see, the cake ended up looking something like a Lunar road map!

pineapple simple syrup

4 oz. water
4 oz. pineapple juice
1 c. sugar
1 c. fresh pineapple, cut into 1/2 " dice
tart berries for garnish (I used blackberries)
toasted coconut for garnish

Mix water and juice in a small saucepan. Add sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until all sugar is dissolved. Add fresh pineapple and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Transfer mixture to heat resistant glass container, and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate mixture until ready to serve.

comfy's cooking note: I think this recipe would work well with a variety of flavor variations. I might try an orange-cardamom version next time.